A near disaster about a real disaster.

net_orders

This film tries to recreate what could end up being Japan's worst nuclear accident as it is imagined primarily from within the crippled power plant. Since the short-term outcome is known (the long-term outcome is probably decades away), it's hard to create much, if any, suspense. Unfortunately, there is not much drama either; just a lot of repetitious shouting and running around. The latter is often confusing and suffers from poor editing. Story line focuses on what looks to be some of the real heroes of the day remanufactured by the script. The performances of these movie hero characters tend to be rather unconvincing mainly due to over acting. Interior sets are also on the sparse side and special effects seem to be underutilized. The film is way too long and, as noted earlier, very repetitious. All in all, an underwhelming movie experience. Viewed at Japan Cuts. WILLIAM FLANIGAN

score 5/10

net_orders 1 March 2021

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw6651742/